A Brief History of Gold

May 12, 2016

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Throughout human history gold has been regarded as one of the most precious materials on the planet. This has been found to be true in almost every wide-spread corner of the globe. Time passes, civilizations rise and fall, and gold retains its value. Why is this? What other roles has gold filled throughout history? How has this changed over the course of time? We will learn about all of this today.

Gold as Decoration

Gold was one of the first materials that mankind ever mined. It took less procession than almost any other mineral to be purified and then shaped. The earliest civilizations largely used gold for decoration. Beautiful gold pieces over 5,000 years old have been found in the tombs of Egyptian kings. While these ancient civilizations had not yet started using gold as a currency, they still held it in high value. Only individuals who were royal or very rich had access to gold.

Gold as Currency

Around 600 BC, people started thinking that gold could be used as more than just decoration. This was when the first gold coins began appearing. The history of gold as a currency had just begun. For nearly 2500 more years, gold and silver coins were essentially the primary currency of the world. Gold and silver were mined in the Americas, Africa; anywhere it could be found. It was then transported to Europe and subsequently all across the globe.

Gold in the Modern World

On June 05, 1933 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt announced that the United States would be going off of the gold standard. That is, the value of US currency would no longer be backed by gold. This represented a massive change in how our economy functioned. One thing didn’t change, however, and that was the value of gold. Even today, a single Troy ounce of gold is worth approximately $1,300.

At Stewart Kuper Jewelers, we are Tucson’s gold and diamond buying experts. We pride ourselves in our honestly and integrity. If you have unwanted gold, be it jewelry or other items, we encourage you to come in and talk to us about it. We pay up to 80 percent of the spot gold market for that day.